Category Archives: Travel

Had a leisurely breakfast and then took the ten-minute walk to downtown Salisbury.  We found the cathedral and spent time wandering through its transcepts and chapels.  The cathedral also houses one of the best copies of the Magna Carta.  I was a little disappointed in my pictures but you just can’t do justice to these amazing buildings.

We spent our last night in Wales at the Baskerville Arms Hotel in Clyro, walking distance from Hay-on-Wye.  The hotel takes its name from the Arthur Conan Doyle story and some believe he drew his inspiration from stories in this area.I took an early morning walk through the church yard.  We had been seeing them along the drive and walked through a few with their old trees and grave markers.  This one was lovely with ivy covered stones, the view of the Welsh hills beyond, and the old village houses on all sides.

Then, it was ruined abbey day.  We started at Tintern Abbey, along the Wye River.  It’s amazingly well preserved despite the lack of a roof.  The interpretation is very good; they really help you visualize what it looked like in the 12th century.  It wasn’t crowded and I found myself waiting for the monks to come from the chapter house.  Took time to read Wordsworth’s poem out of the volume I bought in Hay-on-Wye the day before.  We had lunch at the little tea room across the road.  Despite having beautiful weather to see the Abbey, it started to rain and hail so we stayed for an extra cup of coffee and I had a slide of Banoffee Pie.  Then, it was a quick dash to our car and on to Glastonbury.

The weather was awful as we cruised the motorway.  Rain, then a little snow even.  We wondered if it was worth heading to Glastonbury but we persevered and by the time we got there it had stopped raining and the sun came out.  Glastonbury is where the monks found the supposed grave of Arthur and Guinevere and I felt like I had to make the pilgrimage.  Of course, it might have just been a 12th century hoax to bring money to an ailing community.  The site is marked even though the stone and remains are gone.  Glastonbury, like most abbeys including Tintern, was basically torn down during Henry VIII’s disolution.  All the good stuff–windows, lead, decorations–were taken and sold.  There is little left of Glastonbury but it is still an impressive ruin sitting right in the middle of town.

Because of its ties to Joseph of Arimathea and Arthur and Merlin, Glastonbury has turned into something of a new age town.  Lots of magic shops and flyers advertising healing and tarot readings.

We made it into Salisbury without incident.  We are staying at the Rokeby Guest House, an Edwardian brick house which is just a ten-minute walk to the city center.  We made the walk last night to eat at Harper’s Restaurant.  Had a lovely supper and today we are ready to explore the cathedral.

The south of Wales seems a little less wild than the north.  We explored St. David’s peninsula, beginning with Pembroke in the north and then St. David’s, Britain’s smallest town, in the south.

Pembroke Castle is known as the birthplace of the Tudor Dynasty.  Of all the castles we visited, it is the most restored with floors in the towers that can be reached by the winding stone stairs.  There were extensive exhibits on both the history of the castle as well as England itself.

From Pembroke, we headed north to St. David’s to visit the cathedral and the ruins of the bishop’s palace next door.  Our drive took us along St. Bride’s Bay and we stopped at Solva for lunch.

The cathedral is lovely.  It is built on the site of a monastery originally built in the 6th century.  Tradition says that St. David was born in the town in 5oo AD.   The cathedral became a popular pilgrimage site during the middle ages.  Throughout its long history, it has been attacked by Vikings, nearly destroyed during the Reformation and almost abandoned in the 20th century.  We wandered through its chapels, appreciating the tombs of nobles and knights as well as its treasury of church relics.

Behind the cathedral are the ruins of the bishop’s palace.  Built by Bishop Gower in the 13th century, you can see the remains of large rooms and imagine how it must have looked when the bishop lived there.  It is quite picturesque and well sign posted.

We went into the tiny town of St. David’s and had tea at The Sampler Tea House. We haven’t had official tea yet so this was a nice way to end the day.  There was a warm fire in the cozy shop, which featured embroidered samplers, and we ate cucumber sandwiches, scones, and Bara Brith, traditional Welsh fruit cake.

Today was castle day on the trip.  We started with Conwy Castle, located just a few minutes away from where we are staying in the seaside resort of Colwyn Bay.  The town of Conwy has its wall in tact and the castle was built by Edward I in the late 13th century as part of his plan to subdue Wales.  We arrived just in time to take a guided tour.  Neil, our tour guide, was fabulous!  I learned more about defending castles than I had ever known.  He also added to my knowledge of Welsh history and the rocky relationship of England and Wales.

We ate lunch across from the castle then strolled into the center of town to see the statue of Llewelyn the Great, who almost succeeded in uniting Wales against the English.

From Conwy, we crossed the Menai Strait to Anglesey to visit Beaumaris Castle, the last castle built by Edward I.  It was never completed but offers fabulous views of the town and the straits.  Our lessons from the morning helped us understand what we were seeing.

Again, we strolled into town, this time to find the sarcophagus of Joan, the wife of Llewelyn the Great, which is in the Beaumaris Parish Church.   I found myself wandering through another lovely churchyard then looking at spectactular stained glass windows while the organist practiced inside the church.

We returned to Colwyn Bay and I took a walk along the water.  We had a lovely dinner at the Rhos Harbour Bistro.

After a breakfast of porridge and toast, we headed out…started in Keswick where I took the Keswick Launch around Derwentwater, the most photographed of the lakes.  I had some idea of getting off at Lodore to go see the waterfalls, but somehow missed the stop because I didn’t realize they had skipped the first dock on the map.  Oh well…you can see the old hotel and waterfalls from the lake so all was not lost and I got wonderful views of the lake district from the bow of the boat.  Lots of folks were heading out for hikes.

I got back into town with time to kill before meeting my folks, so I poked around the St. John’s churchyard, vaguely looking for the grave of poet Robert Southey, but mostly enjoying the solitude.

Next stop was Grasmere…this time to visit the Wordsworth family graves in the churchyard of St. Oswald’s.  Then, thanks to a tip from a friend, we stopped into Sarah Nelson’s for gingerbread.  Just a tiny shop next to the church.  We also had lunch in town right next to the bridge over the River Rothay.

We had time so decided to check out the Castlerigg Stone Circle.  It is the oldest circle and one of many that can be found in this part of England.  It was crowded with a school group so we snapped a few pictures and then wandered across the field to look at sheep over the stone fence.  We had one of those great accidental moments:  we missed the stone circle the first time and found a pottery where we were just going to turn around.  Instead, we bought mugs and vases and chatted with the owner, Jan Burgess.

From there, we headed south along the lake to the Ashness Bridge with its beautiful view across the lake.  We continued south over the dramatic Honister Pass.  Just huge mountains and sheep on either side.

Check out more Lake District photos here.

Then we had one of those not-so-great accidental moments.  We managed to hit a rock and flatten two tires on the car.  We flagged down a passing motorist who was unbelievably helpful.  He and his wife drove into the next little town for a pay phone–no cell service out in the fells.  He came back to let us know that the Royal Automobile Club was on the job.   And, sure enough, some time later, a chap showed up to let us know that he had been in touch with our rental agency and they were going to exchange the car for us.  Unfortunately, it meant having to drive to Newcastle, about 90 minutes away.  As we sat in the car waiting for the tow, it got dark and then rainy and then windy and it was oddly exciting, if a little scary, to be stuck there.  But, no worries, the two truck driver appeared soon after and we took a lively ride with him to get our new car.  It was fun to chat with him about politics (the English are sure Barack Obama will be the next president) and sports and the ways of the world. We were tucked into our beds at the farm by 2:30 AM and I’m trying not to think how much it might cost.  Mostly, we’re thinking about how nice and friendly everyone was!